Tell the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey"

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

"Tell the daughter of Zion,
'Behold, your King is coming to you,
Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.'"

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

"Hosanna to the Son of David!
'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'
Hosanna in the highest!"

And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."

- Matthew 21:1-11

Yesterday, we read that as Jesus and the disciples went out of Jericho, on their way to Jerusalem, a great multitude followed Him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"   They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples . . .   My study bible has several notes I will refer to in today's passage.  It notes of the entirety of today's reading that "Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem is celebrated by the Church on Palm Sunday.  By Christ's time, Jewish nationalism had led to the expectation of a political Messiah to deliver them from Roman control and to reestablish David's kingdom.  In humility, Jesus shows that He has not come to establish an earthly kingdom.  He does not ride on a horse or in a chariot, but on a donkey -- a sign of humility and peace (Zechariah 9:9).  This entrance into the Holy City declares the establishment of the Kingdom of God.  It is also a promise of Christ's final entrance into the heavenly Jerusalem with all believers and of His accepting the New Jerusalem as His pure Bride (Revelation 21:2)."

. . . saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"  So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  My study bible notes that Matthew here reports a colt as well as a donkey.  It says that Church Fathers see the two animals as representing the faithful Jews and the Gentiles who are brought together into this Kingdom.  At the Vespers of Palm Sunday, the Eastern Church sings, "Your riding on a foal prefigured how the untamed and uninstructed Gentiles would pass from belief to faith."  Indeed, Matthew's gospel is noted for its "two's" -- e.g. two demoniacs, two blind men.

 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  My study bible says of the people who spread their clothes before Jesus that they did so as paying reverence to a King.  "It is spiritually interpreted as our need to lay down our flesh, and indeed our very lives, for Christ."

Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:  "Hosanna to the Son of David!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  Hosanna in the highest!"  And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."    The cry of the people is from Psalm 118:25-26.  My study bible points out that it was associated with messianic expectation.  During the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot, feast of the coming Kingdom), it was recited daily for six days -- and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!"  Let us note also that the crowds call Him the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.

Let us take on the idea of expectations here.  What do the people expect of this "prophet from Nazareth" coming into Jerusalem?  What do those expect who are singing this hymn from the feast of the coming Kingdom? All along in Matthew's gospel, Jesus has been careful not to openly state His identity as Christ.  He is not "just" a prophet.  It is only in chapter 16 of Matthew that Peter first confesses, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Peter is the man whose house in Capernaum had become their makeshift Galilean headquarters; he has lived with Jesus as disciple from the beginning of Jesus' ministry.  He is "first among equals" as apostle.  And yet, it is not until deep into Matthew's gospel, chapter 16, that this revelation is given.  Jesus is careful to note that, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven."  It was given to Peter by the Father, and it is on this rock that Jesus builds His Church.  Faith must defy our "worldly" expectations.  Jesus is a type of Messiah that will reach far beyond all and any expectation of what Messiah is.  He will not be a "national liberator" as a kind of material warrior or king (He has already refused the desire of those fed in the wilderness to make Him king).  Faith reveals to us things that are otherwise totally unacceptable, unforeseeable, even unconscionable in some sense (see Matthew 16:20-23).  Jesus does not come into Jerusalem like a king or great ruler, riding on a horse or in a chariot, with an army to follow Him and do His bidding.  His mount is a donkey and her colt!  His army are the people who call Him "the prophet from Nazareth" -- a poor town with a poor reputation in terms of "spiritual" expectations.  They are the ones who lay their clothes down in expectation of what might come of this prophet.  Nobody knows what the coming of the Kingdom means or will mean.  Hardly anyone expects what is coming in the immediate future, even though by now Jesus has warned His closest disciples several times about what is to happen in Jerusalem.  The power of faith in Christ also that which may defy all our own expectations, and we often forget that.  Faith can lead us to places where we are deeply disappointed, and at the same time resurrected to a place that is hardly imaginable before it is revealed to us.  But the key to faith is trust, through all things -- through disappointment of our own expectations, and on toward the Resurrection that awaits, that gives us new life and a new way to see things, as well as a new concept of who we are as people of faith.  Can we go with Him on this journey?  Can we await the fulfillment of Who He is?  Who He will be for us?  Where He calls us to follow?  It isn't always a simple or easy or comfortable journey; and yet it is one that will surpass every expectation we have.